Midnight Roast

Most people have popcorn or ice cream as a midnight snack. We make a pot roast. But normal people can make this for dinner and if you haven't made a pot roast yet this fall, get on it. I made mine with chuck roast, carrots, and turnips. You can get creative with as many root vegetables as your heart desires. Chuck roast is actually a fairly lean cut of meat, especially if you choose wisely and pick one with less marbling. Now, in my house this is unacceptable and I have to buy the fattiest piece of meat I can find because fat = flavor. My verdict: don't eat whole chunks of fat and this is a very healthy, delicious, comforting dinner. Or midnight snack.

Classic Pot Roast

3 1/2 lbs pot roast [get the biggest one - LEFTOVERS]
Lots of cut up root vegetables. I used 4 carrots, 3 turnips, and an onion.
Salt, Pepper, Garlic Powder, and Onion Powder*
2 cups beef broth
1 1/2 cups good red wine
1/2 cup cider vinegar
2 bay leaves

Heat cast iron skillet to high heat. I usually put mine in the oven to get it smokin hot. Sear the roast really well on all sides - 10-12 minutes. In the meantime, chop up the veggies and put them in the slow cooker. Place meat on top of the veggies.

Add broth, wine, vinegar, and bay leaves to the pan that had the meat in it. Let it simmer for about 5 minutes, then add it to the slow cooker. Cook on low for 8 hours.

*This is the "Kober" rub we always have on hand. Andy uses is for everything. It's equal parts salt, pepper, garlic powder, and onion powder. Mix it up and keep it in a spice container!

And for DESSERT - homemade vanilla frozen yogurt :)


Using my new favorite kitchen tool: my ice cream maker!

1 2/3 cups whole milk
3/4 cup sugar
4 cups fat free, sugar free vanilla yogurt [Yoplait]
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp good quality vanilla extract

Stir together milk and sugar til sugar is dissolved. Stir in yogurt, cream, and vanilla extract. If you've got an ice cream maker, you know how to do the rest!

Makes 14 1/2 cup servings. Calories: 100 Fat: 3 g

Happy National Dessert Month!

Who is in charge of coming up with this stuff? Regardless, it does call for celebration. Not because I'm real into desserts - I'm not - but I'm very recently getting into baking [I'm actually making pumpkin bread as we speak] and I couldn't be more excited about it. I'm finding that I really do need follow directions when baking, which has been a challenge, but a good learning experience.

I just added the greatest baking staple to my kitchen - Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook [thanks Jane!]. It's just the best. It's filled with everything you need to know about baking, including hundreds of recipes for everything that goes in the oven - breads, cakes, pies, cookies, crackers, and lots of very interesting things that I may or may not be able to pronounce that I'm hoping I'll have the guts to try someday.

I highly recommend picking up a copy - I really think you'll toss your other baking cookbooks and replace them with this one. This was my official verdict after I made the banana bread...TO DIE FOR. I brought it to work the morning of the Iowa v Ball State game and by the end of the morning, I found that my coworkers had ceased neatly slicing the bread because it looked like it had been attacked. I took this as a compliment. Downside: no lemon meringue pie recipe. But we'll forgive Martha, she's been through a lot. Other than that, it's perfect.

Let's go ahead and post that Banana Bread recipe. It's too good to miss out on.

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp salt
3 large eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cup vegetable oil
2 Tbsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cup ripe mashed bananas (about 3 medium)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut [I used sweetened on accident. Def. don't regret it]
1 cup walnuts or pecans, toasted and finely chopped [optional. I didn't use nuts]
1/2 cup buttermilk

Preheat oven to 350. Coat two 9x5'' loaf pans with cooking spray; set aside. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt.

Beat eggs, sugar, and oil on medium low speed until combined. Beat in the flour mixture. Add vanilla, banana, coconut, nuts, and buttermilk, and beat just to combine.

Divide batter evenly between prepared pans; smooth with an offset spatula. Bake, rotating pans halfway through, until a cake tester comes out clean, 60-65 minutes. Transfer to wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pans and let cool completely.

I regret not snapping a picture of it last week..you'll just have to make it to see how delicious it looks!

Pantry Staple: Canned Tomatoes

Canned tomatoes are an absolute must! I find myself buying 5 or 6 giant cans of them every time I see them on sale, even if I don't "need" any. You always need canned tomatoes! San Marzano tomatoes are usually recommended by chefs, but if you don't want to spend $5 for a can of tomatoes, Hunt's is your next best bet. They are using a new technology called "Flash Steam" to make their tomatoes taste super fresh out of the can. I use canned tomatoes for soups and stews [essential for fall], stir-frys, pasta sauce, SALSA, etc. Fresh tomatoes are great, but let's be honest, unless you're growing loads of them in your backyard, they will probably taste better out of a can - and in the late fall and winter, it's really your only option unless you want tasteless tomatoes.

Nutrition lowdown: Just because they're canned, doesn't mean they're not loaded with lycopene and vitamin C - both powerful antioxidants. Lycopene is a bright red pigment and phytochemical that scientists have been studying like crazy for it's cancer-preventing properties.

One more thing - I highly recommend only buying whole canned tomatoes. Think about it: a whole canned tomato is far less processed than a crushed or diced tomato and therefore, has more flavor. You can always diced or crush a tomato yourself.

Now...recipe time! I made a classic fall soup tonight for dinner: Pasta e fagioli. I did it in the slow cooker but you could do it on the stove just as easily.

Pasta e Fagioli
Serves: 4-6

2 Tbsp olive oil
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1 onion, chopped
1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
1 tsp oregano
5 whole, canned tomatoes - crushed with your hand or the back of a wooden spoon
6 cups beef broth
2 cups small pasta - ditalini, small shells
1 14-oz can of northern beans
1 small bunch of kale
2 tsp red wine vinegar
S&P

Heat oil over medium heat. Add garlic, onion, red pepper flakes, oregano, and sautee for a few minutes. Add tomatoes, cook for a few more minutes. Transfer to a slow cooker, add broth, and let cook on low for 4 hours. Add pasta and beans and cook for another hour. When ready to serve, chop up the kale and add to the pot along with the vinegar and S&P.

I served it with bread sticks that I toasted in the oven with some olive oil, garlic, oregano, and mozzarella.

I'm back. Again.

The New Years resolution = fail. Oh well. I've been very busy getting married and starting a life with my husband! Not to mention, I've been job searching like crazy. I have 3 interviews in the next 2 weeks so I think all the hard work is finally paying off. I've also been working on my professional portfolio - as a dietitian, I'm actually required to do this and I have to send in a learning plan every 5 years to keep myself on track. Blogging was something that kept popping up while trying to make my learning plan so I got excited to get back into it. I also may have another blog project on the horizon but more on that later!

I'll still be working on pantry staples - they are so important! I'd also like to include more recipes, equipment staples, and current issues in nutrition. If anyone has any suggestions for topics, let me know! And don't forget to subscribe!

<3 Megan

Pantry Staple: Pasta

I LOVE NOODLES! Who doesn't? And guess what? They don't make you fat.

Great for the kitch: It's a quick and easy meal or side. Even better, it comes in lots of shapes and sizes - fun! My favorites are angel hair, rotini, and shells (especially in a Kraft box). My advice is to keep a couple of your favorites in the pantry plus a fun shape to experiment with. Angel hair and other spaghetti shapes do well with tomato and other thin sauces. Fettuccine often goes with cream sauce. Penne is a hearty noodle and goes with hearty, meaty sauces. Tiny pastas go well in soups. I found a great pasta + sauce guide on Chow.com (also a VERY cool food and drink website) to check out as well. Branch out and make something other than spaghetti for dinner.

Great for the bod: Pasta constantly gets dissed at a fattening food. But like anything, it's healthy and satisfying in moderation. If you really want to up the nutritional value, buy whole grain. It has a lot more fiber and protein than semolina pasta. Barilla is the best if you want to avoid the "wheaty" taste of most whole grain foods.

Store it: However you'd like. But this is what I like.

Just for fun: I think pasta is one of the easiest things to experiment with. There are a billion different shapes and several types: semolina, whole wheat, frozen, egg, rice, glass...the list goes on. Make a goal of trying a different type every other week.

Andy's Asian Noodle Salad

2 bundles Thick Mung Bean (glass or clear) Noodles
2 Tbsp Sesame Oil
¼ cup Rice Wine Vinegar
3 Tbsp roasted sesame seeds

Drop two bundles of glass noodles into boiling water. Once they become translucent, strain them in a colander. Transfer noodles into a bowl. Combine the oil and vinegar, pour evenly over the noodles, and mix together. Sprinkle liberally with toasted sesame seeds. Chill in the fridge until cold then serve in your favorite stemware (we use martini glasses!).

Speaking of Salt

My friend Bennett sent me this great article printed in the NY Times on Sunday about the recent salt backlash.

I still can't decide what my opinion is exactly but this makes a pretty good case for the salt lovers. The last page of the article points out that when a powerful ingredient like salt is removed from a product, often times something else - like sugar - takes it's place. Sorry, the food companies don't care about you.

Pantry Staple: S&P

S&P = Salt and Pepper, of course. Everyone has it, yet some may need to give their S&P a makeover.

Great for the kitch: If you think you suck at cooking, chances are you don’t use enough salt. Using salt is one of the easiest things you can do to make your food taste better. Next time you’re at the store, pick up some kosher salt. It’s preferred by many chefs because of the size, texture, and dissolvability. You will never buy regular table salt again – I promise! Sea salt is another great option because of the high mineral content – the minerals give the salt a more complex flavor.

As for pepper, please do yourself a favor and throw away your Tone’s Ground Black Pepper. The oils in pepper are what give off its great flavor and aroma. When it’s ground, it immediately begins to lose that. When it’s ground and sits on a shelf for months, it pretty much doesn’t even taste like pepper anymore. Get yourself a grinder and some peppercorns.

For the bod: There’s a lot of controversy about salt and blood pressure. If you don’t have high blood pressure and it’s not a huge problem in your family, you probably don’t have to worry a whole lot about your salt intake. If you’re worried about blood pressure, this is something that is better discussed with your doctor. And if you’ve been told to cut back on salt, the best thing you can do is stop buying frozen and canned foods loaded with sodium and measure out your own salt into your fresh foods so that consumption is better controlled.

Store it: Next to the stove for easy access.

Fun stuff: Salt is the only rock eaten by humans. It’s found mostly in the ocean but also some lakes. The government is going to start regulating the amount of salt in foods by slowly decreasing sodium content in high salt foods over time.

Pepper is a fruit, seriously! There are black, white, green, orange, red peppercorns. It’s been used in India since prehistoric times and at one time was a huge luxury only for the wealthy because it was so expensive.

I have a weird obsession with salt and pepper shakers, which is really sad since I only use salt that is too coarse for one and a pepper grinder. But I couldn't pass this picture up!